


Choice

by cupnsaucer



Category: Spartacus Series (TV), Spartacus: War of the Damned
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sexual Slavery, Slavery, Slow Build, allusions to rape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:41:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22687147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupnsaucer/pseuds/cupnsaucer
Summary: Nasir is valued body slave, responsible for managing Tribune Lucius Vibius Metellus's villa, but that doesn't protect him from the appetites of his dominus. Agron is a new guard, in need of employment after buying his freedom from his winnings in the arena.Friendship becomes the edge of something more when Nasir's circumstances change.
Relationships: Agron/Nasir
Comments: 14
Kudos: 71





	1. Chapter 1

Nasir glided through the courtyard, destined for the herb garden, thoughts on the details of the celebration that night. He would brew the mint tea for his domina, check the market order that should have arrived by then, lately the new grocer’s boy had been giving them poor produce, and then ensure that Mira and the other female slaves were preparing the atrium, then he would- 

“Nasir!” Naevia called to him from the veranda.

He waved her away, bending to pick the best mint leaves.

“Nasir!” Naevia called again, insistently. 

Nasir sighed, straightening and shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand and looking towards the villa. Naevia was standing next to a giant of a man, short hair and armour gleaming in the sun. What fresh hell was this? No one had told Nasir to expect a visitor and the dominus was away from home. He hurried over to Naevia, getting further off schedule. 

“Who is this??” He demanded gesturing with his handful of mint.

“Agr-” The giant started.

“Hush you!” Nasir cut off angrily, turning to his friend to plead for an answer. “Naevia?”

“Dominus has returned with...” Naevia gestured towards the taller man. “this to be made guard.”

“Why in the heavens-?”

“I met your dominus in the market.” The giant had a pleasing voice. “He recognized me from past glories in the arena.”

Nasir looked at Naevia who shrugged, she knew nothing more than he was to be a new guard. 

Nasir sighed and turned to the other man, “And?”

“And it pleased him to see one such as me made protector.” He shrugged. “Now you are tasked with finding lodging and uniform.”

Nasir took a deep calming breath and shut his eyes for a second. Naevia and the new guard exchanged a look.

“Naevia,” Nasir’s eyes snapped open and he was back in organizer mode. “Take this and make domina a mint tea with honey. Then see that Mira and Chadara are preparing the atrium and not fighting, bring Pietros to help calm them. I will then meet you in the larder to inspect produce.”

Naevia nodded and took off at a pace as soon as Nasir finished. Nasir admired her efficiency for a moment before turning back to the giant. 

“I am Agron.” The taller man reached out a hand to shake.

Nasir just looked at the hand, turned on his heel and made a sharp gesture for Agron to follow. Without waiting, he strode off towards the inner corridor leading to the guards’ quarters. He came to an abrupt stop in front of a set of locked double doors. Agron was a step too slow to stop and ended up crowding Nasir into the door, pressing his body against the shorter man’s back. Nasir ducked out from under his arms with a scandalized look on his face.

“Apologies!” Agron chuckled, turning to face the outraged Syrian. 

“Oaf!” Nasir cursed him, shoving at the other man to get him out of the way of the doors.

Agron was immovable but impressed by the strength relative to the size of the other man. Nasir glared up at him so he stepped aside with an exaggerated flourish. Nasir huffed in annoyance and pulled his key ring off his belt to unlock the doors. Inside were racks of weapons and some breastplates and armour hanging from hooks. Nasir looked Agron up and down, sizing him up before pulling down pieces of armour and passing them without looking to Agron. A cape and tunic came out of a chest to be piled on top of the armour. Nasir turned with the last two pieces, a heavy belt and a short sword, and, upon seeing Agron’s unbalanced load, carried them himself out of the room. Nasir lay them down momentarily to lock the doors again before setting off at a brisk pace again. Agron re-balanced his burdens and followed.

They navigated the narrow hallways of the villa’s back corridors and came to another stop in front of what turned out to be a narrow room, dusty and half full of chests.

“You may put your things here, I will have stores removed.” Nasir instructed, turning to go.

“Nasir.” Agron called him back. 

Nasir raised his eyebrows in impatient inquiry. 

“Pleasure to meet you.” Agron gave him a full dimpled smile.

Nasir rolled his eyes and turned away again, hurrying back up the corridor towards the larder, he had already wasted enough time on the ex-gladiator. Nasir followed the route by memory, mind on the celebration. Aquilius Hadrianus would be present which meant he had to watch out for Pietros, a favourite of the infamous lecher. Flavia Livius, that fatuous wench, would be looking for any sign that something had been missed so it could be brought up to domina, the garum lacked spice, the dates were sparsely stuffed, the pork too thickly sliced and the ostrich too meagerly portioned. Any mistake would be taken out on the slaves of the villa and Nasir would answer for it. He may be a favourite of dominus but domina would not hesitate to order him shackled for a day or an hour in a stress position. 

Nasir arrived at the larder to find the impatient grocer’s boy waiting for him. 

“I have been waiting-” The boy started imperiously. 

“And you will wait yet longer while I check order.” Nasir snapped, in no mood for the haughty self-importance of poor freemen. 

He started with the baskets of ice packed seafood, urchins and jellyfish lay alongside skate and mullet. The next held delicately placed flamingo tongues next to small, skinned dormice. A quick peek in the next two baskets showed the expected snails, pork, ostrich meat and swans. Nasir turned his attention to the bushels of produce, his sharp eyes searching for wilted leaf or bruised skin. Purple carrots, bunches of asparagus, leek and radishes, thick woven baskets full of turnips, parsnips and beets, all fine. Endive, chard and kale all looked lush and the heads of cabbage were free of moth holes. Finally, Nasir had examined everything to this satisfaction and dismissed the now sullen boy.

Naevia came hurrying around the corner, almost bumping into the departing grocer’s boy, full of apologies.

“Chadara and Mira refused to agree on the placement of the chaise and Pietros was –“ She cut herself off with a deep breath. “It matters not, apologies I was not here.”

“It matters not, you are here now.” Nasir said, brain already moving to the next task. “Get scullery slaves in here peeling and preparing and then go back and supervise Mira and Chadara. I need to check the menu, we cannot serve the dormice too early, Cato Galla will gorge himself and then Flavia Livius will tell domina and you know where that leads.”

“But they cannot be served too late so as to give Flavia an opportunity to remark on their absence.” Naevia said with a smile and an eye roll and set off for the kitchen.

Nasir picked up the neatly written menu from the sideboard and concentrated on imagining how the perfect night would play out, when each dish would appear and how it would be styled.


	2. Chapter 2

Nasir glistened in the torch light, his skin gold paint on golden tone, as he slipped between the columns on his way to check on the guests in the atrium. The meal had been served and consumed, service going off without a hitch, and guests were now roaming the veranda and courtyard, gold painted slaves circulating with trays of cheeses, meats and fruit, seafood and breads, nuts and stuffed dates. Nasir could feel the new guard’s eyes lock on to him as they had done all night when Nasir was in range. Nasir determinedly ignored the fixated stare, though his skin tingled under the green gaze. He resisted the urge to straighten the long straight cloths hanging from his hips, barely giving the illusion of modesty, they were the only covering the slaves were afforded at such gatherings. He made a quick circle of the atrium, catching Naevia’s eyes and summoning her over with a small gesture. Naevia filled cups with sweet wine from her pitcher on her way before ducking behind a column with Nasir.

“Is all well?” Nasir asked, sneaking a look to his right to see if the new guard was still watching and he was.

“Yes, no complaints even from Flavia.” Naevia reported.

“And Pietros? Safe from Aquilius’s clutches?” Nasir shifted his position slightly so as to be able to look at the ex-gladiator out of the corner of his eye while facing Naevia.

“Of course, I assigned him to manage the dishes coming out.”

“Flavia? Any complaints from her?” Nasir asked, distractedly.

“What draws your gaze?” Naevia made to turn but Nasir’s hand shot out to hold her shoulder.

She smiled and glanced more subtly over her shoulder, “Or rather, who draws your gaze.”

“It is his eyes that have been upon me!” Nasir protested.

“That is not how it appears.” Naevia smiled widely. “He is very handsome.”

“I simply want to ensure that he is doing as he should.” Nasir said primly.

“Standing? Yes, I can see why you would need to supervise that.” Naevia said sarcastically.

Nasir bit his lip then let out a sigh, “He stares at me.”

Naevia gestured for him to continue.

“And I do not know how I feel about his eyes on me.” Nasir blushed beneath his paint.

“I know how I would feel if his eyes were on me.” Naevia said with exaggerated lasciviousness.

“I am not one as Chadara, to throw myself on a man for a look.” Nasir said indignantly.

“According to the other guards, he is no man, but a god of the arena.” Naevia teased. 

“Dominus would kill us both, as you are well aware.” Nasir said, a little sadly. 

He may not care for this guard but he wished for the freedom to care. Or he thought he did, he barely remembered a life before servitude, when choices could be made and decisions were a person’s own.

“But you do not care for his eyes upon you.” Naevia stroked his cheek fondly. “One day dominus will come to prefer another and you will be free to use your body again.”

“We must return, I will check on Mira and the others in the garden and you should have someone help you replace the ice under the sea urchins.” Nasir was all business again.

Naevia looked as if she were going to press the point but instead nodded and headed off on her task. Nasir sighed and took a moment to compose himself. When he looked up he was startled to meet green eyes. He had forgotten he was being watched, too caught up in thoughts of the past and future. The guard was the one to break the look, eyes tracking movement approaching Nasir.

“Nasir!” Tribune Lucius Vibius Metellus sounded annoyed.

“Dominus.” Nasir dropped his gaze and assumed a meek posture.

“What are you doing, I have need of you.” Lucius grabbed hold on Nasir’s arm, pulling him in his wake to where his friends were waiting.

Nasir walled off his actions from his mind, numbing himself in preparation for the rest of the night. Green eyes followed his path.


	3. Chapter 3

Nasir rose early the next morning to cleanse himself. He always did a thorough cleaning immediately after his dominus’s attentions, but that was mindless scrubbing meant to clean and not to cleanse. His morning ritual was to make him himself again, to clear his mind and reset.

He stood in the small bathing room the guards and slaves shared, drying himself slowly, lost in his thoughts. When he bent to dry a leg he heard a sharp intake of breath behind him. Nasir whirled around. The new guard was standing there gawking. Nasir quickly wrapped the wide cloth around himself. 

“What are you doing here?” He demanded angrily.

The guard looked down at himself and back at Nasir and Nasir realized he was wrapped in his own cloth, dressed to bathe.

“Are you well?” The guard asked, taking a small step towards Nasir.

“What business is it of yours, guard?” Nasir was defensive, still off kilter from his sudden interruption.

“Agron.” The other man said.

“What?” Nasir asked, thrown off.

“My name,” He clarified. “Agron.”

Nasir was never so flustered. Now that his initial shock had largely passed he was noticing that the ex-gladiator’s impressive physique was on full display. His discussion with Naevia the previous night sprang to mind and, indeed, Agron’s eyes were watching him as closely as they had the night before. Nasir’s skin tingled under their gaze and he felt an unexpected blush come to his cheeks. Agron must have noticed because he broke out into a wide smile that was all dimples. Nasir blushed harder and fought the urge to smile back. He was not going to swoon for a chiselled set of abs and dashing smile. 

Nasir straightened and raised his chin imperiously, “Move aside, some of us have work to do.”

“You are bold for a slave.” Agron said, stepping aside with a dramatic flourish.

“And you are insolent for a guard.” Nasir retorted, striding out of the room. 

He could hear Agron’s chuckle echo in the bathhouse as he headed back to his small room, a luxury afforded to him by nature of his position. He was still faintly blushing and he couldn’t help but feel lighter. Naevia was right, the light of Agron’s attentions wasn’t displeasing. Nasir smiled to himself as his donned his subligaculum and belt weighed down with a large ring of keys, a symbol of his position as manager of the villa’s affairs. But just because the new guard’s gaze brought heat to Nasir’s cheeks did not mean it would change anything even if Nasir did want to act on the feeling, as the dominus’s pet, his body was not his own.

He was now behind schedule and he hurried down the corridors to his dominus’s room. Quietly, he slipped inside. As always after a night of celebration, his dominus was sleeping alone. Metellus’s wife always retired early, before the debauchery began, and did not like to be woken by her husband and his friends’ exploits. Nasir had been dismissed from this room only a few hours ago and it still smelt like sex and blood, not Nasir’s this time, thankfully. 

Nasir tucked his keys into the waist of his subligaculum so they would not jangle together and began picking up stray pieces of clothing and righting overturned tables and replacing cushions. His dominus liked to awaken to a spotless home. Nasir picked up his dominus’s blood speckled tunic up and set it aside for laundering; when his dominus rose, he would get the bed linen and blankets as well. Nasir was just replacing a vase that had thankfully landed on a soft cushion when he heard his dominus stirring. Quickly Nasir shot across the room to assume his position, head bowed, standing next to the bed, awaiting command. It took the tribune a while to rouse himself enough to order Nasir to do anything.

“Water.” Metellus said. 

Nasir went swiftly to the sideboard to pour a cup, praying to the gods his dominus didn’t notice the pitcher had been filled last night instead of fresh that morning as Nasir would have done had Agron not delayed him. 

Metellus took a long drink before holding the cup out for Nasir to take. Nasir returned it to the sideboard, returning to his dominus with his robe, ready to dress him. Metellus lay his head back against the headboard for a moment, eyes closed. Nasir disliked the days after his dominus has indulged in too much wine. It meant a day of running and fetching, fanning and coddling, Metellus wouldn’t leave his villa on days such as these so Nasir had no break to do his household tasks, to supervise the other slaves. He trusted Naevia but he always liked to ensure he knew everything that was going on, that way he could never be surprised. 

Finally Metellus rose and Nasir draped his robe around him, tying the sash and then stepping back. He would be wanting cool sliced melon and more water while taking a long soak in the bathhouse before being dressed and served a proper breakfast. That would be followed by Nasir fanning him as he reclined while also quietly orchestrating a parade of little snacks and drinks through out the morning to keep his dominus happy. So Nasir wouldn’t be free for a moment until Metellus retired for an afternoon nap. He eased the other man into the water before hurrying off to arrange food and drink, instruct the others to finish cleaning the dominus’s quarters, and ensure Naevia directed all the furniture back in to their places before the domina awoke.

Nasir was hurrying back to the bathhouse with a platter of melon and a pitcher of water when he ran into Agron while turning a corner. 

“Ugh!” Nasir huffed when he hit Agron’s chest while trying to keep the platter steady and the water from spilling.

Agron grabbed Nasir to steady him but his efforts worked against Nasir’s and water ended up slopping over the both of them, melon flying and the platter crushed between them. Nasir tried to pull away as Agron was tried to pull him to the side to avoid stepping on the melon and they ended up crashing into the wall together, Nasir dropping the platter but keeping a hold of the pitcher. 

“Ugh!” The wind was knocked out of Nasir again when they hit the stone, Agron’s weight bearing down on him.

Nair’s face was pressed against Agron’s breastplate, Agron’s arms wrapped around him and they stood there for a moment.

“Are you alright?” The guard asked softly, his breath stirring Nasir’s hair. 

“You imbecile!” Nasir yelled, pushing at Agron to get him away. “That was for the dominus!”

Agron stepped away, chuckling, “You must be more careful, little man.”

“Do not call me that!” Nasir was on his knees, angrily tossing melon slices back onto the platter.

Agron bent down and reached for a piece to help but Nasir slapped his hand away.

“I do not require assistance.” He snapped.

Agron sat back on his heels putting his hands up, palms forward in appeasement, “I only wished to help.”

“You can help,” Nasir grunted as he stood, picking up the pitcher and now full platter, “by getting out of my way.”

Nasir pushed past him heading back to the kitchen quickly, knowing he was in for trouble when he finally returned to the bathhouse. He breezed back through the kitchen, looking annoyed enough that the cooks didn’t give him a hard time about returning so quickly and so obviously ruffled. But it didn’t stop Naevia who was in the kitchen as well. 

“Absent of mind or clumsy of foot?” She teased.

Naevia snagged a piece of melon off Nasir’s tray, inspecting it for visible dirt before popping it in her mouth. 

“It was that guard.” Nasir said, still annoyed.

He handed the platter to a cook and turned to fill the pitcher himself.

“Which guard?” Naevia asked and Nasir shot her a look. “Oh, that guard.”

“He is always in the way!” Nasir fumed.

“Well he is never in my way, hmm, I wonder why that is?” Naevia said teasingly.

Nasir cast a pointed look at the other slaves in the room whose ears were fairly twitching to hear the gossip. While the Romans were playing their politics and intrigues, their slaves were playing the same games but with more dire consequences. Any piece of information was hoarded in case it presented an advantage down the road. Nasir did not know what the cooks could glean from his and Naevia’s conversation but he wasn’t willing to risk it. Instead, he gathered up the replaced food and signalled Naevia to follow him into the hall. She snagged another piece of melon before she followed.

“I thought we had decided his attentions were not so terrible.” Naevia said as soon as they were out of earshot of the kitchen.

Nasir had an unwanted flash of Agron that morning, standing barely clothed in front of him.

“Attentions are fine, interference in my duties is not.” Nasir was hurrying along to the bathhouse as he spoke to Naevia.

“I will manage Mira and Chadara in the atrium, you check in with Pietros in the garden and we will be back on schedule.”

Nasir could have kissed her, he didn’t know what he would do without her help.

“Much gratitude!” He called after her as they split off at the atrium where Nasir could already hear an argument was brewing between Mira and Chadara. 

He could just hear Naevia’s sharp words, cutting off the squabbling before he was at the threshold of the bathhouse. Nasir entered the humid building, swiftly heading to his dominus’s side. Metellus still had on the cool cloth Nasir has placed over his eyes before he left. To Nasir’s surprise, Metellus didn’t say anything about his tardiness, simple tossed the cloth aside when he heard Nasir pour him a cup of water and place the platter of melon within easy reach. He must have been feeling the effects of the previous night’s wine more than Nasir thought. 

Nasir waited a moment for further instruction but Metellus simply closed his eyes again after consuming a slice of melon and taking a long swallow of water. Nasir silently retreated out of the room, mind already on his next task. He swiftly cut through a back corridor that laid a nearly straight path through the villa to the garden.

When he arrived, his first order of business was to find Cato and send him to the bathhouse to massage their dominus. A large and imposing eunuch, Cato was the only one Metellus would accept to massage him. Cato put down the large stone planter he was carrying and headed towards the villa. He was a man who seldom spoke, instead taking instruction without complaint. The two slaves struggling with the other stone planter looked at the one Cato placed down with despair, knowing it would be their next task. 

Nasir threaded through the manicured flower beds which sported large topiaries and flourishing flowers. The recent rain had brought much relief to the parched land.

“Pietros.” He called, looking for the young slave among the others rushing about to reorganize the garden before the dominus was done bathing.

Pietros’s head popped up from behind a leafy dryad. He was not a gardener but he longed to be and could often be found with dirt under his nails. If not for that and his penchant for distraction, Pietros could have been a body slave. He had the looks and the abilities but not the desire or the temperament. 

“I need you to finish cleaning dominus’s room and then prepare the exedra for dominus’s afternoon rest.” 

Nasir turned to go, conscious that any moment he spent away from his dominus there was the potential for one of his wants going unfilled which would mean punishment for Nasir. 

“Nasir,” Pietros stopped him. “Are you alright?”

Pietros had an innate ability to read people’s emotions. He would reach out and touch your arm, look through you with his big brown eyes and draw out your feelings. But Nasir had no time to unpack himself and just flashed a quick smile and slipped away from Pietros. 

The day passed slowly, Nasir’s predictions for his day were right. He was in an out of the kitchen, fetching whichever dainty treat came to dominus’s mind and when he wasn’t rubbing Metellus’s temples, he was rearranging the slave boys so his dominus was always shaded and fanned. 

The only... interesting point, Nasir suppressed the word highlight, of the day was when Agron briefly assumed guard on the veranda. Nasir wasn’t sure if he noticed him standing in the shade of a pillar but Nasir couldn’t help his eyes from drifting to where Agron stood, looking far more impressive in his armour than the other guards – at least to Nasir’s eyes. 

Nasir watched Agron from under his lashes, his eyes downcast as was proper in the presence of his dominus. The ex-gladiator didn’t shift his weight, he didn’t fidget, he stood like a statue, his head occasionally turning to scan the garden. It was too soon when the guard Agron replaced returned and he was off, back to whatever task he was doing. Nasir watched him go.


End file.
